Asbestos container and method of making the same



Sept. 9:, 192.4. soww T. ROSE ASBESTOS CONTAINER AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME Filed Nov. 9, 1922 l 4 4 I Swim r1430; V 10 17mm; flaw,

Patented Sept. 9, 1924,

re era-rsnstance Pat Q THOMAS nose, or AMBLER, P NSYLVANIA.

AsBEs'ros oorvrnnvnn ANn-Mn'rHonor MAKING THE SAME. 1

Application filed November 9, iszaj'seria m. 599,766. 7

To aZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, THOMAS Rose, a citizen of the United States, residing at-Ambler, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Asbestos Containers and Methods of Making the Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it-appertains to make and use the same.

The invention relates to a novel box or container made of asbestos and to the method of making the same, and has for its object to provide a box body fashioned from a blank of sheet asbestos, constituting the bottom, sides and ends of the box, with the contiguous sections of the sides and ends, constituting corners, united by homogeneous welded joints, effected by subjecting the blank, folded orbent to appropriate form, to pressure suflicient to cause the contacting sections of the asbestos to coalesce and unite integrally, so that the finished body is a homogeneous, jointless' structure,

Fig. l is a perspective View of the'com-' plete box;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the box body is fashioned;

Fig. 3 is a half plan view showing the elements of the blank bent to the form of the box body prior to the welding and finishing operations;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the completed box body.

In the packaging of various commodities, more particularly cigars, cigarettes and tobacco products, it has long been regarded as highly desirable to provide a container that is the proof, impervious to moisture and atmospheric conditions, and that will resist the attacks of bugs and animals, and will,

therefore, admit of the goods or commodities in the containers being maintained in their normal condition as to temperature and moisture content, for long periods, without impairment of the other desirable characteristics and qualities of the said goods or commodities: To this end it has been customary, particularly in respect of cigars, cigarettes and tobacco products, to provide containers of special kinds of wood, usually lined with paper or other suitable material,

or, in the alternative, to make the container of glass, metal,or other water and weather proof materials, in order to prevent exces-' sivedrying of the goods, dueto varying changes 111 temperature and atmospheric conditlons. Thecontainers of glass, metal,

or the like, are objectionable forvarious' obvious reasons, among wlnch may be men-,

tioned the. cost, unsatisfactoryv shapes, and liability to fracture or'impairment, so that by far the largest proportion of goods "of this general character are packaged in boxes or containers madeof wood, paper or the like, which requires that they be finished.

in a certain way to render them even ap proximately effective for relatively short periods in preserving the goods from excessive drying and attendant deterioration,

but which are noneftective; in preventing access of insects and vermin. The instant invention, however, affords a container that may be manufactured at a minimum'cost, that isstrong and resistant todeformation, that is fire proof and water proof, thatmay be used repeatedly for'packaging the'goods, and that possesses all ofthe desirable qualities of containers made from wood or paper stock without any of the inherent objections or limitations of these materials.

In forming the body of the box, sheet asbestos, preferably in a moist or more r less plastic condition, is cut in unitary blanks having the proper configuration to form the bottom, sides and ends of the box body, such as illustrated in Fig' 2, in which 1 represents the bottom, 2 the sides, land 4 the ends. Preferably each "offthe' sides is extended laterally beyond theinarginal ends of the bottom to form flaps or flanges 3'to' provide an extra amount of material at the sections where the sides and ends, are united. After the blank has been formed as indicated, the wing sections 3 are bent at right angles to the plane of tlie sides 2, and the said sides 2 and ends 4; are bent along the dotted lines, until they are normal to the bottom, with the wings or flaps 3 extended within the rectangular structure, and engag ing the lateral. inner edges of the ends a, as illustrated in Fig. 8. Pressure is then applied to the partially formed box body to cause the sections of the sides and ends, including the flaps or wings 3 to coalesce and weld together in a homogeneous jointless union. It has been found that the moist or semi-plastic asbestos lends itself most effectively to this operation, so that, when the material at the contacting surfaces of the box structure is subjected to sufficient pressure, a homogeneous union is produced between the engaging surfaces, that is in fact a welding together of the separate ele ments without any stratification or lines or areasof separation or demarcation, as is inevitably the case when similar elements are secured together by adhesives. In other words, the union of the contiguous sections of the sides and ends of the box body is as complete and homogeneous as a perfectly welded joint between metal sections.

Preferably the bending and compressing operations are carried out in a suitable power press, which first folds or bends the various elements of, the blank to proper relation, and then imposes the requisite degree of pressure on and about the con tiguous surfaces of the sides and ends to cause the contacting areas of the asbestos at these pointsto actually [low and weld to gether and form completely homogeneous union. The flaps or flanges 3 constitute an element ofreinforcementfor the corners of the box body, and, when the compressing opera-- tion is completed, the said wings or flaps will have been caused to integrally unite with the contiguous sections of the asbestos to forma fillet 10 at each corner of the b0 body, as indicated in Fig. &.

As illustrated in the drawings, the box or receptacle is shown as a standard container for cigars, in which, when the body portion has been completed the ends project above the sides by an amount equal to the thickness of the lid or cover 11, which latter is applied in the usual way by providing a hinge joint 12 of fabric or the like cemented along the rear edge of the cover and the top edge ofthe rear side.

The sheet asbestos, from which the containers are made, need only be thick enough to render the completed structure rigid and in actual practice the thickness of the sheets is much less than that of corresponding sections of wood or paper heretofore employed for the same general purpose. After the box has been completed, it may be finished with any desired character of ornamenta tion, such as labels, border strips and tinished lining all of which may be applied to the surfaces of the box, quite as readily and effectively as if the latter were made of the usual wood or paper.

One material advantage of a receptacle made as described is that it lends itself to repeated use, for, when a given receptacle has been emptied, the applied labels, ornamental coverings and linings, may be readily removed by soaking the receptacles in water and, after drying the surfaces of the box, new labels, coverings and linings may be applied, none of the operations in any way impairing the structure of the box he or the attached cover.

l/Vhat I claim is:

l. A box having inherent rigidity in its Wall structure, said box being made from a blank of asbestos material out to form the bottom, sides and ends of the box body, the sides and ends of the blank being folded into contact at the corner portions of the box and said contacting portions, while in a plastic state, being welded together by a pressure sufficient to cause the material of the blank to coalesce into integral homo geneous welded unions.

2. A box having inherentrigidity in its wall structure, said box being made from a blank of asbestos material cut to form the bottom, sides and ends of the box body, the sides and ends of the blank being folded into contact at the corner portions of the box and said contacting portions, while in a plastic state, being welded together by pressure suliicient to cause the material of the blank to coalesce into integral homo geneous, welded unions, and interior fillets constituting integral reinforcements of said unions.

3. The method of making a rigid boa body of asbestos which consists in forming a blank of asbestos to constitute the bottom, sides and ends of the box, bending the sides and ends into contact to form the desired box configuration, and, while the blank adjacent said contacting portions is in a plastic state, subjecting said portions to a pres sure sufiicient to cause the contacting ma terial to coalesce into integral homogeneous unions,

THO'MAS 

